Understanding Iran

November 22, 2013

I was stunned to see your full-page analysis on Iran (News, Nov. 20) showing a timeline of U.S./Iranian relations beginning in 1979. What about the 1953 coup d’etat, orchestrated by the American and British governments, which overthrew the democratically-elected Iranian prime minister? This coup helped sow the seeds of the 1979 revolution. One cannot understand the past 30 years without also analyzing the years before.

The relationship between the U.S. and Iran is very complex, and both sides have reason to mistrust each other. That the Chicago Tribune chose only one period of time, in isolation, and presented it without the larger context is some of the shoddiest journalism I have ever seen from a world-class newspaper. Your presentation reveals none of the deeper complexities, and therefore does nothing to shed light on why this relationship has been so contentious for so long.

The US helped Iran with economic development. My Iranian grandfather worked with American advisors in the 1920s and 30s in building roads and railroads throughout Iran. In the early 1960s the U.S. provided teams of Western experts (in health, education, agriculture, etc.) to help with economic development. The teams were organized by Harvard University, and funded, at least in part, by the Ford Foundation. My father was one of those development experts back in 1961.

You do a tremendous disservice to your readership by presenting only a small part of a much larger picture, implying that this is all one needs to know. I urge you to either do a more comprehensive analysis, or don’t touch the subject at all.